The study was undertaken to detect the prevalance of anaemia in 500 randomly selected students of the age group 17-22 years of both sexes from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences .The collected blood samples were subjected to cell counter for Hemoglobin, Red blood cell count, Packed cell volume and blood indices (Mean corpuscular volume, Mean corpuscular Hemoglobin concentration & Mean corpuscular hemoglobin ). WHO cut-off values of 13gm% in males and 12gm% in females were used to find out the magnitude of anaemia. The haematological parameters in anaemics and nonanaemics were compared and the influence of factors like body mass index, diet pattern, history of menstrual cycle and mother's education on anaemia was studied. Statistical analysis was done by students t test and significance was depicted taking p value into consideration. The overall prevalence of anaemia was 20.2%, in females 29.5% and 4.3% in males. On comparing non anaemic and anaemic males significant difference between all the haematological parameters was observed (p <0.001) except Total Red Blood Cell count and Red cell Distributation Width. Similarly anaemic and non anaemic females showed significant difference in all the parameters (p value <0.001) except total RBC count. Significant association was also found between anaemia & educational status of mother.
Keywords: Anemia, Diet, menstrual cycle, Body Mass Index, educational background of Mother.
